Vacuum lifting device



April 6,1926

. v F. M. ADAY VACUUM LIFTING DEVICE Filed-June 3 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 avwemtozt 35 1 emm @655 April 6 1926.

1,579,744 F. M. ADAY VACUUM LIFTING DEVICE Filed June 5 925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 6, 1926.

U N IT eo srares eaten-r Q E? ii rmcrsmz ADA-E; on-nnoexmr n NEW YORK.

vacuum marine" Deviant Applicationfiled" lime: 3,

To all wlzom'tf'may concern Be it known that I, FRANCIS MI, ADAY, a'

citizen of tth'e United-Stateaand a resident:

ofBrooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of" New York, 7 have invented new and with the resultant". necessity of removing same at the di'schargingpoint' and the undesirable cavitiesor holes which result fromsuchzremova'l. I k 1 g A further object of'the' invention is to provide improvements whereby'th'e necessity for lifting the can from the; tank and dischargingthe ice by; tilting'same'. in a suitable cradle orice' dump maybe avoided.

Therspecific objectof my invention isto providea simple, durable and eflectivmyet relatively inexpensive device especially adapted for; thelifting, conveying, ltandling and discharging ofi'cehlocks; thesamebeing set forth in d'etaill'in the. following description and drawings forming" a? part thereof, in which, V

Figure 1 is a perspective viewtshowing. an ice hoisting" apparatus embodying my in; vention; Y a

Figure s :alongitudinal: section of' a downwardly opening chamber madeof sheet steel or other heat conducting metal or'material" which maybe rectangulaninshape but will have preferably sloping sidesasillus; trated in,

Figure 3 which is a' transverse. section on the line 3-3-of" Figure 2 and" which is further illnstrated in A V Figure 4: which shows my invention perspectively; i

Referring to the drawings; the reference, numeral 1 designates the top" or'upper; sure face off this downwardly opening: chamber, 2 the ends thereof; 3 the sloping lateral" 1 sides and 4 the slopingflaterall top walls.

A suitahle heating coil, preferably" of the" I 1925.. Serial N6. 34,584.

type commonlyemployed in electrical heaters'or'irons wherein a high resistance coil is imbedded in. or caused to envelop a refractory insulating material as porcelain,

soap stone, or the like, is mounted either sub- I stantially' entirely around or around the or chamber; g i

The obj ect' of this; heating coil" as will" be laterdescribed, is to. provide a means-for partially warming the metal ofwhi'ch thecliamber is made and especially to providea heating efiect to the-lower edges-of the downwardly opening chamber; i

A flexible" or resilient flap 6 may be secured to the end and lateral. walls of the chamber adjacent the lower margin thereof in ordertoprovidea sealbetween the lifting-chamber and any blocl'cofi'ce with which it maycome'in contact, although ordinarily it can be dispensedwith.

A ring '7 for engaging a. lifting hook or other suitable lifting, means is tightly securedto the top ofsaid chamberorreceptacle and an air exhausting valve 8 and vacuum relief valve 9 areprovldedfor respectively periphery of. the said receptacle permitting,- the production of. a vacuum in I the receptacle and the relief'of same'wi'th the l e-establ shment of atmospheric pressure in such receptacle when desired;

I-Tavi g. described the construction of this device If now describe the manner in which it is to be used,- e'sp;ec1ally for lifting blocks of ice from molds in which the, ice/has,

been fbrmedf' I v First, electric current is supplied to the heating coils and the heat produced is conducted by the. metal sides ofthe vacuum re ceptacle or chamber to all parts of same.

hen the chamber is'lowered into contact with-the top ofan ice block ifthe upper surface of the ice shouldbe uneven the edges ofthe' chamher will slowly melt thatpart of the-ice beneath theedges due to the warmth of the; metal. When thismeltin'g has pro; ceeded for a short period; the edgesfof the chamber will have sunk into the ice at all points sufliciently toprovide and insure a perfect contact between the ice andthe edges ofthe chamber which will compensate for any unevenness in thesurfaces of the ice or in the edges of the chamber. At this'point the air exhausting valve 8 is opened to con nect the. chamber with a vacuum pump or other air exhausting means, thus creating in the chamber a pressure less than the atmospheric pressure outside of same. The total difference of pressure measured over the projected surface of the edges of the chamber will produce a large total force tending to press the chamber tightly in contact with the ice block, and when by reason of the increasing vacuum this total pressure exceeds the weight of the ice block there will be sufficient adhesion between the chamber and the block so that by lifting on the hook of the chamber the block of ice can be raised.

After the block has been lifted by the hoisting mechanism of the crane or other lifting means the crane can be moved to any point where it is desired to discharge or release the ice. At this point the vacuum relief valve 9 is opened and the air rushing into the chamber from the atmosphere will relieve the vacuum and re-establish equal pressures inside and outside of the chamber. hen the difference in pressure between the outside and the inside becomes less than the weight of the block of ice the block will be released.

Having described the construction and operation of this vacuum chamber I now describe the manner in which a multiplicity or battery of these chambers can be conveniently arranged to lift more than one block of ice or a whole row of blocks of ice.

Referring to Figure 1. A number of these receptacles 1, as alreadydescribed, ar I arranged to be suspended by means of their lifting books from the cross beam 12 by short rigid rods 11. This cross beam 12 in turn is supported by cables 18 passing over sheaves 14 and 1 1 which are arranged to be wound upon the drum 15 operated through meshing gears 16 and 17 by a motor 18. By the turning of the drum the "cross beam 12 and receptacles 1 can be raised or lowered for lifting or lowering the blocks of ice. This hoisting drum is mounted upon the cross members 19 of a travelling crane which is free to travel back and forth on the rails Also mounted upon the cross beam of this crane is a tank or receiver 21, wherein a vac uum can be produced, connected by suitable pipes to an air exhausting pump or other vacuum producing means 22 operated by a motor 23. The receiver 21 is also connected by a pipe 24 to a flexible hose connected with another pipe 2 1 on the cross beam 12. and thence to each of the vacuum receptacles by flexible hose 25.

Now when the crane is brought over a row of blocks of ice and the chambers lowered into contact therewith, by the operation of the three-way cock 26 a vacuum can be produced in all of the chambers at one time and the ice can be lifted from the molds by the hoisting mechanism of the crane. After the crane has moved the ice to the desired point the vacuum can be relieved beneath all of the chambers by means of the said threeway cook 26 which shuts off the vacuum and admits the atmospheric air into the chambers thus releasing the ice blocks from the chambers. 7

Not only has the above described vacuum chamber the advantage of not requiring rods to be frozen into the ice or the tilting of cans in order to remove the ice but this device also renders it possible to readily hoist and transport largecakes of ice with the minimum of effort on the part of the operator and the ice is not materially disfigured by the application. of these vacuum receptacles thereto since the extent to which the lower edge sinks into a cake of ice is relatively small.

It has the further advantage that a few of these vacuum chambers will replace many of the rods or pipes which are ordinarily frozen into the ice since one of them must be employed for each mold or can in an ice making plant.

This device moreover has the further advantage that it can be operated singly for one block of ice or that batteries of them can be provided for handling a number of blocks at one time and likewise the valves for controlling the production of vacuum and also for relieving same can be applied to each chamber individually or the single threeway cock 26 can be employed to control all of the chambers simultaneously.

lVhile I prefer to employ means for heating the walls of the receptacles which are preferably of metal or heat conducting mate rial, nevertheless this device will operate most satisfactorily on smooth level surfaces of ice without applying any heat or even without providing means for heating the same as the ordinary heat contained in the metal will be suflicient to produce some melt ing effect with such blocks of ice and also since the weight of the chamber will be sufficient to provide some melting effect heneath the thin edge of the chamber upon which its weight rests. Certainly, however, it is found extremely desirable to provide means for heating the walls of the receptacle to permit of the partial penetration of the lower edge at thereof into the upper surface of the ice cake and this feature alone is of extreme importance when it comes to operating on uneven surfaces of ordinary cakes of ice it is commonly necessary to lift and transport especially if the same has formed an uneven surface during freezing and has become roughened or rendered uneven by the shipping of same in handling these relatively large objects.

\Vhile I have shown a heating coil preferably extending substantially around the entire periphery of the receptacle or chamber it is obvious that either several short sections of the heating coils may be secured to the receptacle or merely a single short section may be secured to the top of the receptacle as the conductivity of the metal from which the same aremade will serve to transmit the heat to the surface of the ice brought into contact therewith and thereby facilitate the sinking of the lower edges (Z of the receptacle into the surface of the ice cakes until a perfect seat or line of contact is obtained between the lower edges of the receptacle and the ice beneath these edges. I

As an illustration 'of the effect of the lifting power of my improved device, the following example is given:

A receptacle, say 10 X 20", which would have an area of 200 square inches, when placed on a block of ice and in which a vacuum of 10 is produced said 10 of vacuum equalling about 5 lbs. pressure, will exert a pull equivalent to approximately 5 lbs. per square inch'or 1000 lbs.

The manner of suspending the vacuum receptacles from the cross beam 12 by rigid rods 11 which by means of the hook and eye connections are capable of tilting slightly either transversely or longitudinally but are held against rotation on a vertical axis,makes it possible to automatically, without manual adjustment of each receptacle, drop such receptacles when properly spaced from each other on a series of blocks of ice while still in their respective cans while at the same time the receptacles will be aided in seating themselves by the weight of the cross beam to which they are attached.

Although I have described my improve ment in great detail and with respect to a preferred form thereof I do not desire to be limited to such details or form since many changes and modifications may be made and the invention embodied in a widely different form without departing from the spirit and scope thereof in its broader aspects. Hence I desire to cover all modifications and forms coming within the language and scope of any one or more of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to obtain by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In an ice hoisting device, the combination comprising a vacuum receptacle, means affording communication with a vacuunr producing means, means for connecting a hoisting device to such receptacle and means for heating the walls of such receptacle in order to melt portions of the ice surface immediately adjacent such heating means and thereby afford an air-tight contact between the vacuum receptacle and the ice surface.

2. In an ice hoisting device, the combination comprising a vacuum receptacle, means affording communication with a vacuum producing means, means for connecting a hoisting device to such receptacle, separate means for admitting atmospheric air to such receptacle and means for heating the walls of such receptacle in order tomelt portions of the ice surface immediately adjacent such heating means and thereby afford an airtight contact between the vacuum receptacle and the ice surface.

3. In a vacuum device for hoisting ice, the combination comprising a receptacle, certain of the lateral walls of the same being sloping, means for heating the walls of said receptacle in order to 'melt portions of the ice surface immediately adjacent such heating means and thereby afford an air-tight contact between the vacuum receptacle and the ice surface, valve control means connected to such receptacle and adapted to afford communication between the interior of such receptacle and a vacuum producing means and means secured to said receptacle for connecting the same to a hoistingdevice.

4. A vacuum'device for hoisting ice, comprising a receptacle open at its lower end and adapted, when the edges of its lateral walls are in intimate contact with a cake of ice,'to form a sufficiently tight seal to permit of the partial evacuation of such receptacle, means for heating the walls of said receptacle, in order to melt portions of the ice surface immediately adjacent such heating means and thereby afford an air-tight contact between the vacuum receptacle and the ice surface. I

5. A vacuum device for hoisting ice, comprising a receptacle having one open end only, means for heating the walls of said receptacle in order to melt portionsof the ice surface immediately adjacent such heating means and thereby afford an air-tight contact between the vacuum receptacle and the ice surface and valve control means permitting of connecting the interior of said receptacle with vacuum producing means.

Signed at New York, in the county and State of New York this 2nd day of June FRANCIS M. ADAY. 

